Family

One of the world’s most popular hobbies is genealogy. Those of you reading this can probably say that you have, at least, dabbled a bit or have already been bitten by the genealogy bug. What is genealogy, anyway? Derived from…
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My family have no connections to the founding of other countries. They do not appear to have had, or gained, high aspirations. At least none that have been recorded or survived. I can find very little about them, other than…
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In an effort to document your ancestry, you have searched online, poked around in libraries, haunted countless cemeteries and accumulated a mountain of research along the way. What are you going to do with it? Whatever you do, do not…
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Social networking sites, such as Facebook, Myspace, Friendster, and Bebo are beginning to reveal their true potential. In the early stages of development, these sites were a way to simply keep in touch with friends and family. Soon this evolved…
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First of all, you have to gather all that information about your ancestors together. Do this by interviewing your family, visiting your local family history centre, or go onto the Internet. Once you have started to gather your family information…
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My mother was the fifth child in a family of ten. They grew up having to share everything, from their hand me down clothes to their sleeping arrangements, for money was tight in the family.  They fought, argued and played…
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It’s funny the difference between children and adults, isn’t it? The seemingly endless stories told by our parents and grandparents that we listened to over and over as children that we “tuned out” so often, are the very stories that…
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A message forum website offers a place for people of like minded interests to post have online discussions. Message forums have rapidly become a popular mode of communication on the Internet for virtually any subject matter. Genealogy is not immune…
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Much as the name implies, adult day care serves analogous functions to child day care.  The difference is that adult day care is for the care of the elderly. One wonders, by the way, about the wisdom of calling the…
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Documenting our family’s history and the connections between the generations is one of the most popular pastimes. Luckily for the amateur and the professional genealogists as well, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), popularly known as the…
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A useful tool to the genealogist is the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). This is a huge database containing more than 82 million records of deaths that have been reported to the Social Security Administration. Included in the file is…
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For the genealogist a veteran’s pension file can hold a gold mine of information. The ones most sought after are the ones from the Revolutionary War, but those are not the only military records available. Excellent records of the men…
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When my paternal grandmother fell and had to be hospitalized and then discharged to a nursing home for rehab, I learned quickly what is and is not covered by Medicare and Medicaid.  For starters, Medicare requires that a patient spend…
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For our family, much of the information about our ancestors is handed down in storytelling. My favorite story is one my grandfather (mother’s side) used to tell about being raised by his two brothers in Iowa. He fled Germany with…
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A pedigree chart is a simple tool used to trace the blood lineage of a single person. The standard pedigree starts with one individual person. For the purpose of this article the lineage would be you. Your name would be…
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The lessons of history are far too valuable to be lost, especially for genealogists, family historians and personal historians. In the hands of a genealogist, timelines can be a veritable gold mine because they actually show how a family member…
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GEDCOM or Genealogical Data Communication is a software protocol, if you will. It was developed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1985 as a means of recording and organizing family data. Most genealogy software programs…
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Technology has made oldsters younger; in thought at least. Technology has also enhanced care for the aged tremendously and has allowed them to remain in their homes and be a part of their communities. Many who would be in nursing…
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Although we do not wish to face it, but at some point during our elderly loved ones’ lives they are going require changes within the home.  One of the main rooms is the bathroom. The bathroom is one of the most unsafe places…
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We all want to know where we came from and genealogy searches have become more popular, even and addiction, as a result. Finding your ancestors can be an interesting but expensive pastime as some have discovered as they begin the…
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Have you ever wondered about your family history. Have you asked yourself where your ancestors came from and why they settled where they did or what challenges they faced? Genealogy, or researching your family tree, is a fascinating exploration of your…
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“Assistive technology” is simply any equipment, tool, or product that helps a disabled person perform tasks and activities they would otherwise not be able to do, or could only do with greater difficulty.  Also called “adaptive devices,” many such items…
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The bound of paperwork and dusty books is the home of addicted family historians everywhere. Choosing to follow your family tree is a big decision. How much information are you looking to find is the first question. You can follow…
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Tracing your family history is a fascinating way to learn not just about your own family, but about places and other people you had no idea existed. Finding out about your family’s past may even spark an interest in US…
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The bathroom is a potentially dangerous place for people of all ages, but elderly persons seem to be especially prone to accidents in this room of the house.  There are some basic, easy modifications that can be made in the…
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For as long as I can remember I have had an interest in knowing where I came from. Maybe that is because my family settled in New Zealand fairly recently on some lines. Maybe it is my Mormon upbringing as…
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Talking to your aging parents about delicate issues is not an easy conversation to have. In order to be able to abide by their wishes, you will need to have an honest talk with them. Approaching your parents to have…
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Don’t go rushing out to the library or subscribe to an online research program until you’ve done your homework. By homework, I mean that you have searched your home and the homes of every relative who will permit you for…
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I have been working on my family genealogy for a year now. I started when I became pregnant with my daughter. I wanted her to know where she came from, and researching her family tree became my pregnancy project. Here…
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In 1988, my maternal grandmother had a mastectomy.  The surgery was performed in a major hospital located 65 miles from the nursing home in our home town in which she and my grandfather resided.  While my mother sat at my grandmother’s…
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